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How many wins does Derek Dooley need to keep his job?

He is on the hot seat and this year they have about as easy a schedule as an SEC team could possibly have these days.

NC State - Neutral Site Georgia State - Home
Florida - Home Akron - Home
Georgia - Away Miss State - Away coming off an open week
Alabama - Home
South Carolina - Away Troy - Home Missouri - Home Vanderbilt - Away (Home really) Kentucky - Home

They pretty much start off with 5 wins although Kentucky and Vanderbilt have been catching them as of late and could pull the upset.

Then they got Missouri, Miss State and NC State all as winnable games.

But looking at this schedule and thinking that for the first time Derek Dooley should have most of his own guys out on the field how many wins does he need to keep his job? I'm thinking he needs to go 7-5 and have a respectable showing in the bowl game. If they go 6-6 and have a loss to Vandy or Kentucky he is gone.

They were so young last season so there's potential there for them to be one of the most improved teams in the conference next year. But I still think Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina will be better. And that's just in the East.

Honestly I think Derek Dooley was a horrible hire to begin with. He didn't have the resume, background, recruiting prowess, or anything to me that made him worth hiring at a place like Tennessee. He openly admits to mistakes in his post-game press conferences and while that's admirable to some degree, it's more stupid than admirable.

But UT is really in a bind right now. Kiffin completely ****ed them and if they fire Dooley, they'd be blowing up the coaching staff and hiring a new coach and starting from scratch for the third time in five years.

With all that in mind, Tennessee could and probably would have won more games last year had an already young roster not been decimated by injuries.

I understand that but you have to watch the games and listen to the guy in press conferences and he clearly gets outcoached most games and isn't anything more than a legendary coaches son. When you are needing overtime to beat Alabama-Birmingham, Vandy and Kentucky then you are getting outcoached..... Because there is no way Tennessee should be in that situation against those teams.

To respond to the thread, I don't know about a specific number to target. I also don't know how antsy the boosters and administration at UT have become, though I would imagine the fanbase has long exceeded typical frustration.

I think if they reach the 7-win mark this season, he has to be retained. It's arguably more dangerous to fire him, blow everything up, and start from the bottom up again as it is to keep him despite his obvious shortcomings as a head coach.

But with Bobby Petrino on the market, I wouldn't be surprised to see him fired after a 7-win season.

The problem though is that they offered the job to 5 or 6 different guys last time before pretty much just giving it to Derek Dooley after repeatedly getting turned down.... Maybe next time they just need to worry about getting a guy that can coach and not worry so much about recruiting. It's Tennessee they are gonna be able to recruit and winning will only help. What good is having good recruiting if you are getting outcoached every week.

The staff is a big part of it. Look at Auburn -- Chizik wasn't impressive at first and those fans HATED him, but he had Malzahn and Cam to put up video game numbers. Bray is no Newton, but still, the right assistants can change everything. Todd Grantham's defense covers up the stink of Mike Bobo's boring offense over in Athens, lol.

The staff is a big part of it. Look at Auburn -- Chizik wasn't impressive at first and those fans HATED him, but he had Malzahn and Cam to put up video game numbers. Bray is no Newton, but still, the right assistants can change everything. Todd Grantham's defense covers up the stink of Mike Bobo's boring offense over in Athens, lol.

It is gonna be real interesting to see how Chizik does now that that staff has left....

I live close to Knoxville and if Dooley does not win 8 games he is gone . He gets out coached after half game after game . When you let Kentucky beat you with wideout playing qb then it is time to look in another direction . And NO WAY does Tennessee look at Bobby Petrino .

I live close to Knoxville and if Dooley does not win 8 games he is gone . He gets out coached after half game after game . When you let Kentucky beat you with wideout playing qb then it is time to look in another direction . And NO WAY does Tennessee look at Bobby Petrino .

Well it really all depends because there are so many variables.

(1) The nature of the wins and losses. I'm sure he can go 7-5 and keep his job if they manage to beat somebody like Florida. And along those same lines if they are competitive in losses and show signs of moving in the right direction. Whereas if they are getting their doors blown out by the big teams and barely winning the games they are expected to win he is likely gone.

(2) Do they have wins over depleted teams? Do they have a team ransacked by injuries of their own?

(3) Who is out there to replace Dooley? Because you don't want to make a chance just to make a change. You wan't to feel that your team is better off.

But make no doubt that Dooley has been informed that the team must show improvement this season. They have a much easier schedule and are starting to have players that he recruited stepping into starting roles. The pressure is on and he said as much last week that he is out of excuses.

There is a reason that Tennessee has lost 7 assistant coaches this offseason. I mean honestly think about that one.... They have had 7 assistant coaches leave for other programs and several of them were lateral or steps backwards. They know that Derek Dooley isn't gonna be there much longer and decided to jump ship before they got pulled under as well.

There is a reason that Tennessee has lost 7 assistant coaches this offseason. I mean honestly think about that one.... They have had 7 assistant coaches leave for other programs and several of them were lateral or steps backwards. They know that Derek Dooley isn't gonna be there much longer and decided to jump ship before they got pulled under as well.

Agreed, it is telling that they lost so many assistants. Losing Wilcox and Sirmon to Washington just doesn't happen when an SEC team is involved. Tennessee has more prestige than UW, and while UW opened up the warchest to get them, I still find it hard to believe that UT's donors couldn't have matched the offer if they believed in the Dooley regime.

I would be surprised if Dooley is retained after next season, but I'm not certain that UT will be able to get a high-profile guy.

Those 3 games against Miss State, NC State and Missouri are all gonna be big for Tennessee. They rest of the games they are either expected to win or expected to lose.

The game against NC State is gonna be important because a loss in that game would set them up for a 2-3 start in the first 5 games.

The game against Miss State though is seemingly gonna be must win for this team. They play Georgia the previous week and then play Alabama and South Carolina the next two weeks afterwards. A loss to Miss State would put them in the spot of probably losing 4 games in a row.

Those 5 games against Georgia State, Akron, Troy, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.... If they lose any of those games then Dooley likely won't finish the season.